Amalgamator.



C. W. PATTEN.

AMALGAMATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 17. 1914.

Patented May 11, 1915.

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CHARLES W. PATTEN, 0F LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

AMALGAMATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed January 17, 1914. Serial No. 812,615.

ments in amalgamators and has forits object to provide an efficientdevice for this purpose which is of simple durable construction, and isreadily portable, and with which the ore to be treated may be passedthrough the amalgamating liquid without appreciable loss of the latter.I accomplish this object by the means shown in the accompanying drawing,in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an amalgamator embodying my invention.Fig. 2 is a central vertical section thereof taken on the line 2-2, ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view, partially in section, taken on the line33, of Fig. l.

As-shown in the drawing, I provide a circular upwardly flaringreceptacle a, open at its upper end and having an overflow opening ordischarge spout b a short distance below the upper edges of the sidesthereof. Inlet pipes c and d are provided which are arranged to enterthe receptacle through the side walls thereof, preferably atdiametrically opposite points, and at a suitable distance above thebottom, and to project therein to some extent, said pipes c and d beingconnected to a common supply pipe 6 into which a funnel-shaped reservoirf leads.

A vertical shaft 9 is mounted in bearings formed in brackets h and i andmounted on the walls of the receptacle, said shaft being centrallyarranged with relation thereto. A sleeve y is mounted on the lower endportion of said shaft 9 and is arranged to extend downwardly to a pointslightly above the level at which the pipes c and (Z enter saidreceptacle and a series of horizontally disposed blades is are mountedin said sleeve, said blades being set at correspondinginclinations totheir planes of rotation and ex- .tending to within a short distance ofthe sides of the receptacle, the uppermost of said blades being setapproximately at the level of the overflow passage 6, so that they movein horizontal planes above the level of the lower edge of said passage.Any suitablemeans for rotating the shaft 9 may be provided, as the bevelgear m, meshing with a bevel gear n on a driving shaft 0 bearing apulley p.

The receptacle a is partly filled with the amalgamating fluid or mercury9, so that the level thereof is slightly below the plane ofmovement ofthe lowermost blades and above the points where the pipes c and d enterthe receptacle,'and the ends of said pipes are sealed by said fluid. Thepulverized or disintegrated ore, mixed with water, is discharged intothe reservoir f, through a spout s, or by any other convenient means,

and flows down through the pipes c and J,

said reservoir being so arranged that the hydraulic head which issecured, when it is full, is suflicient to overcome the pressure of themercury, and to force it from the lower ends of said pipes, and then toforce the mixture of ore and water, or pulp, into the body of mercury,so that it may rise to the surface of the mercury by reason of itssmaller specific gravity. As the ore or pulp is delivered to the mercuryand rises to its surface, the blade-carrying shaft 9 will be rapidlyrotated in the direction to cause the inclined blades is to have alifting or elevating effect, and to tend to cause an upward current inthe receptacle, thereby acting in the manner of a screw-propeller, whichthe rotary device may be termed. As the lowermost blades are moved inclose proximity to the surface of the. mercury, in a plane parallel tosaid surface, they will act to skim the solid material from said surfaceas fast as it rises thereabove. The blades between the upper and lowerblades are arranged at sufficiently frequent intervals, so that eachreceives the solid material from the blades below, and delivers it tothe blades above. Therefore, the material, which is removed from thesurface of the mercury by the lower blades, will be carried upward fromone blade to the next, to the upper blades, until it is raised therebyabove the lower edge of the overflow outlet, over which it will bedischarged with the outflowing water.

The blades act not only to lift mechanically the material from themercury to the overflow, as above described, but also act to acceleratethe flow of water up through the receptacle, primarily, induced by thehead of water, so that the action of the water, in assisting to removethe material which has been treated, is greatly augmented, as water,when caused to flow rapidly,

will carry up solid matter under these conditions, when it would not, ifthe flow were slow. lVhile the blades tend principally to force, orthrow the material upwardly, they also have a tendency to throw itoutwardly, and it is inexpedient, and undesirable, not to provide asubstantial space for clearance between the ends of the blades and theinner walls of the receptacle, so that there is a tendency for thematerial to collect in this space. I have ascertained, from practicaltests, that, if the sides of the receptacle are vertical, the materialwill tend to collect adjacent the walls, and settle back onto thesurface of the mercury, but have discovered that, by forming said sides,so that the surface thereof is of inverted conical form, or so that itflares outwardly from the bottom, this tendency is, to a substantialextent, neutralized, as the outwardly flaring walls act as a partialsupport for the material, so that the upward current of water, which isthe only force which can act on the material in this space, to carry itupward, does not have to lift it entirely, but may roll it up theinclined surface, thus provided, while partly supported thereon, withthe result that the effectiveness of the current in removing solidmatter in this space is greatly increased. The tendency of the blades tothrow the material outwardly, due to centrifugal action, is also animportant factor in effecting a rapid discharge of the material over theedge of the overflow outlet, the extent of which edge, about saidreceptacle, is immaterial, as it will be understood that the dischargeis directed, as shown,only as a matter of convenience. For this reason,when the material is raised above the is particularly essential, inorder that the,

material delivered to the amalgamator may, after it has been treated, berapidly and effectively removed therefrom to avoid choking, and toenable a much larger quantity of ore to be effectively treated in agiven time than would be possible if the elevating or propelling bladeswere not employed, and, what is more important, to prevent the mercuryfrom being discharged with the material and lost, together with theprecious metal which may have become combined with it. If, for example,the upper blades of the propeller were removed, the heavier granularmaterial would not be positively raised to the level of the overflow andwould settle back onto the surface of the mercury and would accumulatethereon, out of the path of the lower blades, until its weight becamesufficient to cause the level of the mercury to be depressed at thatpoint I and correspondingly raised at another, to

such an extent that the lower blades would pick up the mercury and mixit with the material, and thus cause the mercury to be dischargedtherewith from the overflow. It is, therefore, practically necessarythat the blades positively carry the material to, and above the loweredge of the overflow, where the upper blades, partly from theircentrifugal action, may sweep it, or throw it with the water, over saidedge and from the receptacle and thus prevent the heavier particles ofthe material from falling back and choking the lower blades, or tendingto force the mercury up into the path of the blades, as above explained.While the primary function of the blades is to elevate and remove thematerial from the receptacle and to prevent the settling of the materialonto the surface of the amalgamating fluid, said blades, by beingseparated, and having substantial clearance space 'therebetween, alsohave a mixing action, as they tend to break up lumps in the material, so

that it becomes thoroughly mixed with water, and particles of gold, orsilver, which may have passed through the mercury without becomingamalgamated, may be liberated, and fall back to the surface of themercury and become combined therewith.

By arranging the inlet pipes so that the solid material will bedelivered to the receptacle at oppositely disposed points, not only is asubstantially uniform distribution of the ore, within the mercury,secured, so that the amalgamating action may be more efiective, andbetter distributed throughout the same, but the material will be causedto rise to the surface of the mercury over substantially its entirearea, with the result that, when the material is engaged by the lowerblades, the opposite portions of said blades will be nearly equallyloaded, so that all parts of the propeller will be uniformly effectivein elevating the material and mixing it with the water or breaking uplumps therein. The whole operation is thus better equalized, andrendered more effective. Large quantities of pulp may thus be rapidlyand efiectively treated in a comparatively small device, which may bereadily transported, and this may be accomplished without loss of thetamalgamating fluid to any substantial exen I In case the mixed waterand ore is supplied to the reservoir at a faster rate than that at whichit is discharged, it will overflow therefrom, so that the head cannot beincreased beyond a certain point, and,therefore, the force and rapiditywith which the ore is delivered may be kept constant and cannot be madetoo rapid for satisfactory results, or so rapid as to cause the mercuryto be carried away with the tailings.

The operation thus described may be carried on until it is necessary toremove the amalgam, which may be drawn off through an outlet pipe t atthe bottom of the receptacle, so that a fresh supply of mercury may beintroduced.

I claim 1. An amalgamator comprising a receptacle arranged to permitside overflow at its top and to contain an amalgamating fluid in itsbottom portion, means to deliver a mixture of water and solid materialto said fluid below the surface thereof, to permit it to passtherethrough to said surface, and a screw-propeller mounted to rotateabout a vertical axis within said receptacle, with its lower portionabove and in immediate unobstructed proximity to the normal level of theamalgamating fluid and its upper portion above the level of the overflowedge of the receptacle, to receive the material as it rises from saidfluid, elevate it to points above said edge, and accelerate itsdischarge thereover, by centrifugal action.

2. An amalgamator comprising a receptacle arranged to permit overflow atits top and to contain an amalgamating fluid in its bottom portion,means to deliver a mixture of water and solid material to said fluidbelow the surface thereof, to permit it to pass therethrough to saidsurface, and a screwpropeller mounted to rotate about a vertical axiswithin said receptacle, and composed of a series of adj acently spacedhorizontally extending inclined blades, the lowermost of which arearranged to swing above and in immediate unobstructed proximity to saidsurface and the uppermost above the level of the overflow edge of thereceptacle, the intermediate blades being arranged to propel the solidmaterial from the lower to the upper blades whereby said propeller mayhave an elevating and mixing action on the solid material.

3. An amalgamator comprising a circular receptacle having a sideoverflow outlet at its top and arranged to contain an amalgamating fluidin its bottom portion, means to force a mixture of water and solidmaterial into said fluid, to permit it to rise to the surface thereof,and a series of horizontally extending, adjacently disposed, andsimilarly inclined blades mounted to rotate in said receptacle about avertical axis disposed centrally thereof, the lowermost of said bladesbeing arranged above and in immediate unobstructed proximity to saidfluid level, and the uppermost above the overflow edge of said outlet,to permit said blades to elevate the material from said fluid anddischarge it from said outlet by centrifugal action.

4:. An amalgamator comprising a circular receptacle having a sideoverflow outlet at its top and arranged to contain an amalgamating fluidin its bottom portion, means to force a mixture of water and solidmaterial into said fluid, to permit it to rise to the surface thereof,and a series of horizontally extending, adjacently disposed, andsimilarly inclined blades mounted to rotate in said receptacle about avertical axis disposed centrally thereof, the lowermost of said bladesbeing arranged adjacent and above said fluid level, and the uppermostabove the overflow edge of said outlet, said receptacle having the innersurface of its side walls, above said fluid level, of inverted conicalform to provide a partial support for the solid material, as it iscarried upwardly to said outlet between the ends of the blades and saidwalls.

5. An amalgamator comprising a cylindrical receptacle having an outletat its top, and arranged to contain an amalgamating fluid to apredetermined depth, a screw-propeller arranged centrally of saidreceptacle to rotate about a vertically disposed axis, in position toengage solid material, as it rises above the surface of the fluid and toelevate it to said outlet, supply pipes opening into said receptacle,below the surface of said fluid, at diametrically opposite points, andmeans to cause the material to be forced from said pipes simultaneouslyinto the fluid, to permit it to pass freely through the fluid and riseto the surface thereof, to cause opposite portions of the propeller tobe loaded thereby with approximate uniformity.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES W. PATTEN.

Witnesses:

L. H. HARRIMAN, H. B. DAVIS.

Copies of this patent may be: obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0'.

